Sailing has been a big part of my life since I was 8 years old. It’s a hobby that is hard to quit once you get into it, because it almost becomes a lifestyle. When I tell people that I sail they probably think it means sitting on a boat in the sunshine, reading a nautical map and maybe pulling some ropes. Unfortunately this is not the case. Here is my attempt at explaining what I spend most of my spring, summer and fall doing.
Basically there are many different boats that one can choose to sail according to size, age and interest. During my 8 years of sailing I’ve competed in five different boat classes. There are many sailing clubs around the coastline of Helsinki and Espoo where people keep their boats and practise. For sailing, you need a boat with all the necessary parts it comes with and second most importantly, a sail. This might surprise you but sailing is actually among the 5 most difficult sports in the olympics. The second most surprising thing you’ll learn is probably that sailing can be quite physically demanding. Sailors spend the entire winter at the gym preparing for the next season.
So what is sailing actually about? In a nutshell, it is knowing how to use the wind that blows into your sail to go as fast as possible from point a to b. And yes, to be able to sail wind is required. And what happens if there is no wind? Well your boat does not move. But the stronger the wind blows the faster the boats get and because of that a lot harder to control. In competitions (races) you have to get around a course from start to finish faster than the boats you are competing against. In one start the number of boats competing can be anywhere from 2 to over 100.
And why is this so difficult? you might wonder. The best way to find out is probably sitting down in a single handed sailing boat and trying it out yourself, after which I doubt you’ll question the difficulties of sailing again. I think the hardest thing with sailing is either to know how to be both smooth and light in the boat when there is barely any wind or how to control the boat when the wind is strong, also avoiding to fall in the water (yes this actually happens to sailors once in awhile, and when it does, the boat usually capsizes upside down in the water and has to be pulled up again before you can continue sailing). A sailor has to be agile in light winds and fit in strong winds. Also you have no chance in succeeding if you don’t have a good understanding of how the wind works and affects the boat. Keep in mind that the wind varies in strength and direction all the time. To conclude, if you’re not fit and smart your chances of becoming a good sailor are minimal.
As a sailor I can say from own experience that it makes you really tough. Imagine yourself at 10 years old sitting alone in a small boat at sea in October weather with strong winds, waves and rain in Finland. Not that appealing am I right? Sunday sailing in the sunshine on a 40 feet yacht wearing one of those Henry Lloyd sailing jackets that everyone has is in fact a type of sailing, but be careful not to get that mixed up with sail racing.
When I was little I actually used to cry when sailing because I was so afraid of strong winds. Eventually I learned I had nothing to be afraid of but I can tell you it wasn’t always fun. As I grew older I started to compete and it went well enough that I started travelling around Europe for bigger competitions and eventually nordic championships, european championships and even the world championships a year ago from now. You can probably imagine the experiences that brings with new friends and amazing adventures (of course the sailing is pretty cool too). I don’t think I would be the person I am today if I hadn’t started sailing. I also probably wouldn’t know either finnish or english as well as I do today because of all the travelling and also being forced to learn to speak finnish if I wanted to make any sailing friends.
One reason to why I can’t stop sailing is because of all the friends I’ve made abroad. The only times I see them are during sailing events and competitions. Sailing is just too much fun to quit. It’s totally badass and therapeutic for me at the same time! I really think that sailing has raised me to be a more social, smart, fit and tough-minded person. Anyways I hope you got something out of this. The most important lesson to take away from this is: sailing is cool and you should try it.
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This was such an inspiring and educational post. From the very first lines I could almost feel your love for sailing. Just by reading your experiences I got exited and wanted to try sailing myself. I think it is great to bring different sports into the lights, in this case sailing, so that people can read and learn about them and then maybe find a new future hobby or sport. It is always fun to hear other peoples story's of how they begun and where they are now. It proves that anybody can succeed if you only work for it. You explained the reality behind sailing very well and the picture of you in the end was such a good way to end the post!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post. As someone who has had some experience with sailing, but not competitive sailing, it was really interesting to read about what sailing is like for you. The reader really can see that you love sailing and that this is something you feel passionate about. This post is a good mixture of your experiences and explaining what sailing is really like.
ReplyDeleteThe content of this definitely comes from the heart and it's great to read about your experiences of sailing - the personal touch is definitely one of the strengths of this post.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are some problems with paragraphing (mostly too many ideas in one paragraph) which make it difficult to follow the main point you are trying to make. otherwise, well done!